Madonna della Scala

I have to admit that I haven’t been blogging of my best of late, or rather at my least worst. I haven’t mentioned it here, but there have been various worries nagging away that seriously demotivate the creative process.

Will Miss P get the place she wants at uni? Will I still have a job this time next year? Is the pension going to stretch? The usual stuff.

The unusual stuff was Mrs P’s health. I haven’t and won’t go into the detail here, but she had what could have been a potentially life-threatening condition and she was worried — sorry scared — as was I. It has gone on for some time, visits to the doc, a painful procedure and longer than you’d care to hang around for to get the result.

Today they came. Not the complete best, as in “you’re absolutely fine,” but next in line “you won’t need any treatment for at least five years, if then.” The prognosis is very good which is appropriate at Easter time — the stone has been rolled away.

And when I Googled an image to illustrate my (our) relief, up popped the above, “Madonna della Scala” by Michelangelo Buonarroti, or just plain Michaelangelo to you and me.

“Mother of the Stairs.” Given the three flights that Mrs P has to negotiate to get dirty clothes from top to cellar washing machine, very appropriate.